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After more than ten years devoted to video games and the people who make them, Joystiq is closing its doors. We won't be reporting on the best games of 2015, so join us for one last hurrah as the Joystiq family reveals their Games of a Lifetime.

Hunt the Wumpus
One of my earliest game experiences was playing Hunt the Wumpus on the TI-99/4A. I can't recall if we had this early home computer because my mother had gone back to school for a degree in computer science, or because my aunt worked at Texas Instruments. Anyway, I played a lot of Hunt the Wumpus, which was like Minesweeper meets Evolve. You're tasked with moving a hunter through various interconnected circles, where red dots indicated the Wumpus was two spots away, but there were also bats that could move you to another location and insta-death pits that were telegraphed like the Wumpus, only with green dots. It was one of the earliest games I can remember playing consistently, teaching me before I was in kindergarten on how thoughtful game design can convey a wealth of information.

Pardon the pun, but zombies have been done to death. In comic books, in films, on TV and certainly in video games. Yet developer Techland, creator of 2011's ambitious yet flawed Dead Island, has decided to take another crack at the virtual zombie apocalypse with Dying Light. The big difference this time is that the game relies heavily on parkour for movement, lending the otherwise brutally violent zombie apocalypse a speed and freedom not often seen in the genre.

By itself, this one new element isn't enough to elevate Dying Light above the hordes of similarly themed games, but if the developer could seamlessly attach parkour to some of the better ideas found in Dead Island while polishing that game's poor design decisions, Dying Light has a lot of potential.

Dying Light never fully lives up to this potential, but in the attempt, Techland offers an impressive twist on both first-person action games and life among the walking dead.

In one year, Octodad: Dadliest Catch has made $4,902,945 in gross revenue, with 459,735 units sold across PC, PS4, Mac and Linux. Not bad for a game starring wobbly, paternal, pre-table takoyaki.

Developer Young Horses shared the stats in an infographic, noting that 61.1 percent of Octodad copies live on PC and 32.6 percent are on PS4. Mac is 5.5 percent while Linux is 0.8 percent of all copies sold. In terms of total revenue, PC composes 55 percent, PS4 is 39.2 percent, Mac is 5.3 percent and Linux is 0.5 percent. Keep in mind that Octodad was never a PS Plus free game.

"It was never a free PS Plus game, but folks tend to think it was because it was announced at the same time that Don't Starve and some other games were as PS Plus at E3," Young Horses President Philip Tibitoski told Joystiq in an email today. "I'm not sure how different our revenue chart might look because I don't know if there's a drop off in sales after you go free, and how many customers you might gain / lose. A lot of that depends on the type of game. I'd wager it can be a good thing for something that's multiplayer or competitive since friends convince friends to hop in and buy."

Octodad: Dadliest Catch took two years and seven months to develop, with nine core team members and 28,208 hours worked. Regarding the game, 37 percent of players completed the story campaign and YouTube Let's Play videos of the game earned more than 200 million views combined – Pewdiepie snagged the most, with 8.4 million views.

See the complete infographic after the break (and check out that fancy award at the bottom).

Before you start seeking metaphorical meanings, the game's title is literal: I Am Bread casts players as a piece of bread attempting to toast itself. That's easier said than done, however, as bread isn't very mobile, so players must flip and flop their weirdly pliable square of carbohydrates through complex stages first. If you need a visual aid, you'll find a gameplay trailer past the break.

"I AmBread for iOS will feature all the new content Bossa is adding to the Steam Early Access version, including this week's major update – an all new garage area in which to find more innovative ways of turning golden brown and Cheese Hunt mode starring Crispbread," Bossa Studios claims.

No release date for the iOS version of I Am Bread has been nailed down, beyond a vague "later this year." Bossa plans to first finish the PC version of I Am Bread, before turning its full attention to the iOS game.

Evolve centers around a team of hunters stalking giant, ill-tempered prey, but developer Turtle Rock has also included options for those who prefer to play the lone wolf, as demonstrated in this latest look at the upcoming shooter's gameplay.
[Image: 2K Games]
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Westone Bit Entertainment co-founder Ryuichi Nishizawa has partnered with indie developer Game Atelier to produce a spiritual successor to Sega's Monster World series, publisher FDG Games confirmed this week.

Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze will feature side-scrolling action-adventure gameplay in the vein of the Monster World series, and boasts a playable character who can change form in order to traverse the game's varied 2D environments. Developer Game Atelier initially pitched the project as The Flying Hamster 2 before securing a publishing deal and canceling its Kickstarter campaign prior to completion.

"Monster Boy will be an all-new adventure and as we closely work together with Ryuichi Nishizawa (creator of the original Monster World) it can be considered as an official part of the series," Game Atelier notes in a Kickstarter update published today. "Since the trademark is owned by SEGA we had to pick a different name."

Developer Westone filed for bankruptcy last year, leaving behind a catalog of dozens of games produced over its 30-year history. Monster Boy will debut later this year for the PlayStation 4 and PC platforms.

In Life is Strange you don't need a Cher button to turn back time. The $5 first episode of the teen drama is available now on Steam, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and it's on the way to PS4 and PS3 later today. For more on Dontnod's new joint, make some time for our preview.
[Image: Square Enix]...
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Sega Sammy is restructuring to prioritize "Digital Games," a reform that'll see it make job cuts including "soliciting voluntary retirement" for around 300 employees; 120 employees are due to be approached about voluntary retirement next month. Sega of America is among those to be hit by layoffs as it relocates from San Francisco to Southern California.

Sega Sammy plans to now pursue growth in smartphone and PC online gaming, an area that's seen rising results for the company in recent years. Despite the success of some packaged games such as million-seller Alien: Isolation, Sega Sammy's consistently reported favorable results from the likes of Phantasy Star Online 2, Puyo Puyo Quest and Chain Chronicle.

Yes, this Conan O'Brien "Clueless Gamer" bit features Mortal Kombat X (which, by the by, Ermac was just confirmed for). More importantly, we now know that sportsballer-of-few-words Marshawn Lynch likes to play Toad in Mario Kart, while Rob Gronkowski is all about the Bowser. For several reasons t...
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Hoping to both stress test its servers and drum up an extra bit of pre-release hype, publisher EA has announced plans for a five-day beta test of its imminent cops versus robbers shooter Battlefield Hardline scheduled to begin on February 3.

"There's nothing more valuable to our team than the relationship we have with our community. Their passion feeds our passion and their feedback has definitely helped make Hardline a better game," said Battlefield Hardline executive producer Steve Papoutsis. "We want them to play the hell out of the beta next week and trust that they'll keep that feedback coming so we can continue to fine tune the game."

The beta test will be available on PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and on PC via the Origin digital distribution platform. No purchase is necessary to join the beta, but the file is likely to be a big download, so hopefully you have bandwidth to spare.

There's tidy cash to be made in designing virtual items for players on the Steam Workshop. According to a recent Valve announcement, the platform has paid out over $57 million to creators since 2011.

That figure represents items created for three of Valve's most popular games: Team Fortress 2, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Valve claims the $57 million sum was split between 1,500 creators representing 75 different countries from around the globe. That works out to an average of $38,000 for each creator.

Alongside the financial milestone, Valve has announced plans to launch new curated Workshops for Dungeon Defenders: Eternity and Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, as well new Steam Marketplace analytics tools that should make buying and selling items both easier and more nuanced. For more, visit Steam.

The "definitive version" of Quantic Dream's Indigo Prophecy is now available on PC, Mac and Linux via Steam as well as iOS. Crafted by porting specialist Aspyr Media, the updated version of the "supernatural murder mystery game" goes by the name Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered as a nod to the 2005 adventure's European name. Players can download it for $9.99 (€8.99 / £6.99).

Aspyr noted in its FAQ that there is "absolutely no cut or censored content in this version" of the game. Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered features updated graphics that can be toggled on and off on the fly and controller support across all platforms. While the Heavy Rain developer's original game was capped at a resolution of 1024 × 768, Aspyr said the remastered version supports native resolutions up to 2880 × 1800. Aspyr claimed it "gave every texture in the game a facelift," giving some elements four times the detail as the original game, but the 2 GB size limit on iOS forced remastered textures to only double in size in the mobile version. While it won't provide a release date just yet, the developer did add that an Android version of Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy is in the works.

Oh, hey! Ok, so, we know it's Thursday and all, but there's a perfectly good reason we're posting the UK sales data late this week. First off, Grand Theft Auto 5 was top of the pops for the third week in a row. Now, excuses time: Monday, the Chart-Track site was down all day. Tuesday, we were dealing with some relationship drama. Wednesday, we were eating pints of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. And, so, here we are: Thursday. A glorious day for your weekly dose of charting UK sales.

Beyond the GTA, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and FIFA 15 swap places to take two and three, respectively. The PS4 and Xbox One version of Saints Row IV Re-Elected / Gat Out of Hell takes the number four spot and... Rugby 15 debuts at eight. Rugby 15. Don't ever change, UK. We love you!

No word yet if Lego Chris Pratt will feature those Guardians of the Galaxy abs, but he will feature in the upcoming Lego Jurassic World. Also announced this morning is Lego Marvel's Avengers. Although that's quite exciting, there's still a part of us pining for regular ol' Lego Avengers, starring Emma Peel and John Steed.

"We look forward to expanding the successful [Lego] series with this very exciting line-up of new LEGO experiences for players of all ages to enjoy on console, handheld and mobile gaming devices," said Executive Vice President and General Manager of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment David Haddad, betting his little blue bonnet.

The slate of upcoming Lego games includes the aforementioned titles, along with Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin,The LEGO Movie Video Game for mobile (more Chris Pratt abs!), which is actually out now, and Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (more Bat abs!) for mobile. There are plenty of apps to refine your abs on mobile also.

Going by its first trailer, Dragon's Dogma Onlineplays much like its name indicates. The newly unveiled RPG allows parties of up to four players to take on a variety of monsters, small and large - sometimes very large. Like in the original Dragon's Dogma, players can cling to bigger beasties and get their Wander on, as you can see in the video below the break.

Along with the video, new screenshots some of the "Online" side including towns that players can congregate in and the chat windows pictured above.

Finally, the trailer confirms initial reports that Dragon's Dogma Online is a free-to-play game for PS4, PS3, and Windows PC, and that it's coming to Japan this year. According to Capcom, a Western release isn't in the company's plans.